I thoroughly enjoyed the
course this semester. It was a great to be able to connect what has happened in
the classroom, within student organizations, and on the job with topics in
economics and business. The principle agent triangle was something that
particularly stood out to me as causing numerous problems in efficiency and
productivity, as well as causing stress in the workplace. I also found all the
talk about motivation within organizations very relevant, especially the component
regarding intrinsic motivation. Even though it can sometimes drive the best
work, intrinsic motivation through feelings of partial organizational ownership
can also cause problems.
I found the approach of the
course to be quite rewarding, and the weekly blog posts on our own experience
relating to the course topics really helped me connect what we were learning in
class sessions to my own work and organization experience. I felt as though I
learned more than I would have with more a standard teaching approach. The
excel homework definitely helped to break down the more complicated math
concepts we covered during Thursday class sessions. It was nice to be able to
go back and work through the homework assignments as a refresher for the
midterms too. The excel homework assigned toward the beginning of the semester
definitely was more work intensive than the homework at the end. I found myself
spending less and less time on it as the semester progressed. So where I once
worked through it over the course of about an hour, the last assignment took
only about 10/15 minutes. The blogging always took more time because I needed
to take time to consider the topic and my own connections to it before sitting
down to write. I’d say they usually took about an hour to complete. It was (and
is) nice to be able to offer course feedback.
The course could maybe be
improved by making more use of the two assigned textbooks. Also finding a
middle ground for the excel homework, rather than one of the two polar ends
(easy, challenging). The small class size suited the course well and definitely
made the blogging more effective. Overall, I really enjoyed the class and
definitely feel like I’ve learned some practical economics.
